She didn’t need me anymore. She didn’t need me to make it better, to hold her close when she was afraid. It sucked. I needed her to need me. I wanted her to need me until the end of time, but things would never be the same, and as badly as it hurt, I knew it was for the best.

So I told her good-bye, watched as she disappeared behind a set of black doors, and I walked away. My heart was broken, I was full of fear, yet I couldn’t help but smile a little with pride.

Before I could make it back to the car, I felt a tiny hand tug on my arm. Turning, I found her standing in front of me with tears in her eyes.

“I love you, Daddy.”

Those words turned me to mush every time. I reached down and picked her up. Who knew the first day of school was such an emotional thing?

“I love you, too, pretty girl. Me and mommy are so proud of you.”

I kissed her forehead and set her feet back into the grass outside the school. She waved good-bye again and ran back to the entrance doors. Her book bag, which looked too big for her, bounced up and down the entire way.

Before I got back in the car, I wiped away my tears so Patience wouldn’t know I’d gotten upset.

“She looks too little to be going inside that big school,” Patience said when I shut the door and cranked the car.

“Yeah, she does.” I turned and looked at the school once more.

I’d made it back from touring just in time to be there for Sky’s first day of school. I refused to miss it.

“So who won the bet?” Patience asked as I pulled away from the curb.

“I did.”

She looked over at me with a look that told me she knew I was lying.

“I find it hard to believe you didn’t cry,” she said accusingly.

“Fine. You win,” I said as I pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and handed it over.

She folded it up with a smile and stuffed it in her bra. Her full cleavage popped out above her maternity top. Pregnancy looked good on my wife.

“Look at the road, Zeke,” she said with a grin when she caught me staring.

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her when we got home. Since Skylar was born, we rarely got any alone time and once Kylee, our three-year-old, came, she lived hooked to Patience’s hip. Finn had agreed to take Kylee to the park while we took Skylar to her first day of kindergarten, which meant I had exactly two hours alone with Patience.

When we turned into the drive of our house, all I could think about was peeling off her clothes and making love to her until she couldn’t take it anymore. I’d been gone for three weeks and when I was gone, I missed Patience so much.

You’d think we’d be used to it by now, but there was nothing like coming home to my little family and then spending that first night home in bed with my beautiful wife.

Patience grabbed her back and made a tiny pain-filled noise as we were walking up the steps to our front door.

“You okay, baby?” I asked with concern.

“My back’s been sore lately,” she confessed.

Three pregnancies she’d gone through and every time she never complained. She was only six months in, but I could tell this baby was taking its toll on her. Another girl was on her way. Go figure an ex-womanizer like myself would be surrounded by all girls. It was my torture from the gods knowing one day my three daughters would grow up to be teenagers and would be approached by guys like me.

Patience made another noise and instead of letting her finish the steps, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the front door. She laughed and buried her face in my neck until I put her down to unlock the door.

“Why don’t you go sit down and relax. Is there anything you want?” If she had to carry and deliver the babies, then the least I could do was make sure she was comfortable and had everything she wanted.

“No, but I think I’ll take you up on the sitting and relaxing thing.” She sat slowly on the couch and started to rub her back.

Just like that, I forgot all about my needs. Sex could wait when my snowflake needed something.

Patience

Zeke massaged my back until I fell asleep on the couch. I’d never admit it to him, but this pregnancy was the hardest one yet.

I missed him like crazy when he was gone on tour, but with the girls, I couldn’t go with him anymore, especially now that Skylar was in school.

When I woke up, I was in my bed and it was three in the afternoon. I folded the covers back and made my way into the living room. The guys were there playing with the girls. The girls loved the boys so much, and Finn, Chet, and Tiny—or as the girls liked to call them Uncle Tin, Uncle Tet, and Uncle Iney—had finally met their match when it came to females. There wasn’t anything the boys wouldn’t do for my girls.